New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Robert Piguet will be launching Knightsbridge in the spring, an unisex leather fragrance. It will be exclusive to Harrod's.

From cafleurebon.com:
"Joe Garces gave perfumer Aurelien Guichard a wonderfully simple concept to build a perfume on; Imagine it is 2AM and you are walking through Harrod’s. Knightsbridge imagines the smell of leather and the remains of the day from the Haute Perfumerie all mixing in a chilly darkened store."

First impression from the blog tayandhergay.blogspot.no:
"It's starts off velvety, sweet and elegant with a mix of vanilla and leathery notes. The flowery notes are not powerful and feminine, but soft and elegant. A resinous note comes out after a bit, which keeps the nostrils active and excited, and they give a certain freshness to the whole scent. "

I really like the sound of this one, I think I see at least a sample in the future.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

A leather from Piguet, which after all has Bandit and Visa in its lineup, seems interesting. Visa, also by Guichard, is an interesting frag with a touch of leather, though nothing like the excellent vintage. The name and blurb sound like an ad tie-in with Harrods, and interests me as much as it interests hedonist.

In any case, the scary happenings with leathers at Piguet is the announced reformulation of Bandit. Or perhaps this was the Guichard reformulation, which not even Garce could bring himself to pour in bottles with the name Bandit on them. So he repurposed the formula. Who knows.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Originally Posted by sarıpatates

piguet is churning out one fragrance after another. puts me off to be honest.

Casbah and Oud were very good.

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Originally Posted by cacio

A leather from Piguet, which after all has Bandit and Visa in its lineup, seems interesting. Visa, also by Guichard, is an interesting frag with a touch of leather, though nothing like the excellent vintage. The name and blurb sound like an ad tie-in with Harrods, and interests me as much as it interests hedonist.

In any case, the scary happenings with leathers at Piguet is the announced reformulation of Bandit. Or perhaps this was the Guichard reformulation, which not even Garce could bring himself to pour in bottles with the name Bandit on them. So he repurposed the formula. Who knows.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Originally Posted by cacio

A leather from Piguet, which after all has Bandit and Visa in its lineup, seems interesting. Visa, also by Guichard, is an interesting frag with a touch of leather, though nothing like the excellent vintage. The name and blurb sound like an ad tie-in with Harrods, and interests me as much as it interests hedonist.

In any case, the scary happenings with leathers at Piguet is the announced reformulation of Bandit. Or perhaps this was the Guichard reformulation, which not even Garce could bring himself to pour in bottles with the name Bandit on them. So he repurposed the formula. Who knows.

cacio

Not that I'm cheering a reformulation of a classic like Bandit, but frankly that fragrance scares the crap out of me
I'm using the Bandit in lotion form, and I really like it when it's a bit muted. If Knightsbridge turns out to be a milder version of Bandit, I'd be very interested. The "churning out" bit is a little worrying, there are two other exclusives also launching; Alameda will be exclusive to Selfridge’s and Rose Perfection for Harvey Nichols.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Originally Posted by cacio

A leather from Piguet, which after all has Bandit and Visa in its lineup, seems interesting. Visa, also by Guichard, is an interesting frag with a touch of leather, though nothing like the excellent vintage. The name and blurb sound like an ad tie-in with Harrods, and interests me as much as it interests hedonist.

In any case, the scary happenings with leathers at Piguet is the announced reformulation of Bandit. Or perhaps this was the Guichard reformulation, which not even Garce could bring himself to pour in bottles with the name Bandit on them. So he repurposed the formula. Who knows.

cacio

Should Visa be credited to Guichard? It is an original Piguet after all.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Yes, I meant the reformulation of Visa (it is not clear who the original author of Visa was. Some source give Cellier, who did Bandit, but others give Carles, who did Tabu. I think Carles is the more likely, since vintage Visa is in the tradition of Tabu). I have a bottle of the vintage, and agree with Turin Sanchez that it is a good, but very different perfume than the recent one. Hence, in a way, one could fully credit authorship of the current juice to Guichard, for good or bad.

In an online interview, Garce stated that he had asked Guichard to reformulate Bandit (which is much more unique and irreplaceable than Visa). Hence my fears ...

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Originally Posted by cacio

Yes, I meant the reformulation of Visa (it is not clear who the original author of Visa was. Some source give Cellier, who did Bandit, but others give Carles, who did Tabu. I think Carles is the more likely, since vintage Visa is in the tradition of Tabu). I have a bottle of the vintage, and agree with Turin Sanchez that it is a good, but very different perfume than the recent one. Hence, in a way, one could fully credit authorship of the current juice to Guichard, for good or bad.

In an online interview, Garce stated that he had asked Guichard to reformulate Bandit (which is much more unique and irreplaceable than Visa). Hence my fears ...

cacio

Interesting. Do you happen to know who created Futur by any chance? The original version.

Also, while I've always worn perfume, it's only recently I've really taken an interest to researching the classics and brands and trying them, and Robert Piguet has become one of my favorite houses but I must say I resent the overt importance Aurelien Guichard has in it. For instance, Joe Garces only revived 5 of the classic Piguet scents versus 10 new fragrances by Guichard. Also, he no longer credits Cellier or other noses in the creation of the 5 original ones, but they have now become Guichard fragrances??

It's weird considering Garces' initial goal was to revive Piguet, not extend it or anything.

I think that Garces did a great job in reviving it, but now it's just too much. It's not the Aurelien Guichard house, it's the Robert Piguet house. Maybe somebody else should buy it or something.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

I don't know who did Futur - it's from an era after Cellier. I love in general green chypres, and I enjoy the reformulation. Not ideal though, it does have too much soap for my tastes. Unfortunately, I've never smelled vintage, so I don't know how they compare.

I don't mind Guichard creating tons of new frags for whichever market they're thinking about (delicate chinese, intense arabs, whatever). If that brings in money, fine for me. But I too don't want him to mess up the old ones. Bandit so far had survived in a decent state, Fracas seems safe. Visa is different, but the vintage wasn't essential. Baghari, which I also think was not essential, seems ok. Cravache is unfeasible, without moss. Futur is good, no idea how it compares. On net, a good record, so far. But if things change ...

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Originally Posted by sarıpatates

piguet is churning out one fragrance after another. puts me off to be honest.

Me too. I'm sure many of them are really good, and I did just smell Blossom in Harrods the other day - a really nice orange blossom. But the sheer number of new ones makes it feel too much like hard work.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Not since October 2011 when i smelt Parfum de Marly's Lippizan has a frag blown me off my feet and become an immediate almost-favourite. And i have smelt and bought quite a few frags since then.

Word "on the streets" is that Knightsbridge smells like Dior Homme. I hope this near grave injustice does not harm the potential popularity of Knightsbridge. Yes, Knightsbridge is about Iris, the same (to my nose, metallic) iris in DH. However, kudos to the masterful pairing of the iris with rose. This is what elevates Knightsbridge way above (the very good) DH. There is also a subtle, yet appreciable leatheriness to Knightsbridge which i love. There is a sustained creamy accord/tone that reminds me also of the original Pierre Cardin pour Monsieur.

If Knightsbridge attains global-distribution status (i am not too sure of its status presently) one factor that will always affect will be its price. GBP150 for 100mls will, IMO, force many value-decisions and inevitable comparisons with DH.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

This one is impossible to find in the US but luckily I had a business colleague get this for me from the other side of the Atlantic as a surprise. Looking forward to receiving it when he returns.

Last edited by hednic; 22nd March 2014 at 04:41 PM.

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Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Not at all, in my view. I'm not completely sure what I'm smelling, but it certainly isn't Dior Homme at all.

If Cacio meant Visa in his post about reformulation, that definitely makes more sense. Knightsbridge has a definite Visa-like feel to it - that smooth leather with a creamy backdrop of vanilla, with iris and something else - it smells almost like fruit or spiced flowers. It's nice but I don't think I need it.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Originally Posted by Kagey

Not at all, in my view. I'm not completely sure what I'm smelling, but it certainly isn't Dior Homme at all.

Have to agree. Dior Homme doesn't come into my mind either.

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Mean spirited, nasty, snide, sarcastic, hateful, and rude individuals on Basenotes don't warrant or deserve my or other Basenoters' acknowledgement or respect.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

How can I get this scent shipped to me in the US? Anyone know of any mail forwarding services that will ship perfume from the UK to the US? I wouldn't mind paying well above cost to have this if it's as good as everyone is saying it is.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

Originally Posted by litworth

How can I get this scent shipped to me in the US? Anyone know of any mail forwarding services that will ship perfume from the UK to the US? I wouldn't mind paying well above cost to have this if it's as good as everyone is saying it is.

The problem seems to be that none of them (at least the ones I've looked at) will ship perfumes as they're classified as hazardous materials.

Remember that while it is perfectly acceptable to criticize the content of a post - criticizing the poster is not.
Mean spirited, nasty, snide, sarcastic, hateful, and rude individuals on Basenotes don't warrant or deserve my or other Basenoters' acknowledgement or respect.

Re: New leather unisex from Robert Piguet: Knightsbridge

I found a place that will ship for a fee, but it's pretty pricey (64 pounds). Luckily I got it from an ebay uk seller with great ratings that was selling an unopened still in plastic bottle at a 30 percent discount.